September 06, 2009

The Moffitt Dictionary : The Vernacular of Traditional Business vs. The New Community Economy

Sometimes we encounter people in life that work so hard to fit in, be accepted, be loved and are willing the put on a "face" or "show" to ingratiate themselves with their newfound social circles or professional milleus....but there language trips them up and reveals likely what rests at the heart of what they think as well.

Here it is, with the case of the traditional economic world (of whom I was a part of for the greater chunk of my career) and the new world of the friendlier, more collaborative marketplace - the community builders (for which I have put my stock and become an entrenched part of).

Beyond philosophical differences between the two groups, there is a cavernous divide in how these tribes see their craft, which makes it difficult for the traditional and new worlds of communication to cooperate, never mind getting past the semantics for discussion.

It shows up in how they dress, who they vote for, what they value, how they socialize, what they covet personally and perhaps, most visibly in what language they use. As in any turf battle, neither side is wholly right (trust me, there are some idioms and words of the new economy that drive me batty - "it is what it is", cloud computing. "just sayin' and usability come to mind ) but establishing some common English-French dictionary of sorts for each group might be important.

So move over Roget and Websters- here is a compendium of the top 50 words and phrases used by traditional business speak (rooted in the capitalist and militaristic language from which it has its roots) and the new community speak (rooted in the more recent, more activist and post-war culture from which it emerged).

Comments

The Moffitt Dictionary : The Vernacular of Traditional Business vs. The New Community Economy

Sometimes we encounter people in life that work so hard to fit in, be accepted, be loved and are willing the put on a "face" or "show" to ingratiate themselves with their newfound social circles or professional milleus....but there language trips them up and reveals likely what rests at the heart of what they think as well.

Here it is, with the case of the traditional economic world (of whom I was a part of for the greater chunk of my career) and the new world of the friendlier, more collaborative marketplace - the community builders (for which I have put my stock and become an entrenched part of).

Beyond philosophical differences between the two groups, there is a cavernous divide in how these tribes see their craft, which makes it difficult for the traditional and new worlds of communication to cooperate, never mind getting past the semantics for discussion.

It shows up in how they dress, who they vote for, what they value, how they socialize, what they covet personally and perhaps, most visibly in what language they use. As in any turf battle, neither side is wholly right (trust me, there are some idioms and words of the new economy that drive me batty - "it is what it is", cloud computing. "just sayin' and usability come to mind ) but establishing some common English-French dictionary of sorts for each group might be important.

So move over Roget and Websters- here is a compendium of the top 50 words and phrases used by traditional business speak (rooted in the capitalist and militaristic language from which it has its roots) and the new community speak (rooted in the more recent, more activist and post-war culture from which it emerged).